


You and I Were Fire Fire Fireworks

by goddammitamy



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, Family Dynamics, Fluff, Fourth of July, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2015-07-06
Packaged: 2018-04-07 23:15:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4281714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goddammitamy/pseuds/goddammitamy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>See, Lydia’s birthday party might be the best party everyone at school looks forward to every year, but Stiles’ favorite party after that is definitely the McCall-Stilinski Fourth of July cookout.</p><p>And this year, since Scott invited Allison, Stiles needs someone else to watch the fireworks with. </p><p>So when he runs into Derek at the store on the Third, he makes up his mind and just asks him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You and I Were Fire Fire Fireworks

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TatsuKitty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TatsuKitty/gifts).



> Firstly, this is all Cat's fault. Secondly, I have no idea where this came from and it kind of got away from me. Thirdly, title is from Fourth of July by Fall Out Boy. Fourthly, it's been a while since I've written for Teen Wolf so if anything is out of character it's my bad. But also, this hasn't been beta'd or anything so all the faults in it are my own!

See, Lydia’s birthday party might be the best party everyone at school looks forward to every year, but Stiles’ favorite party after that is definitely the McCall-Stilinski Fourth of July cookout. 

It’s been tradition since they’ve been best friends. Stiles’ dad grills and Scott’s mom makes the side dishes and the desserts. And it’s probably the only day a year that both Scott’s mom and Stiles’ dad are actually off work and they’re around for longer than just a meal and a quick game of catch up. 

And this is the first time Stiles has ever really not looked forward to it. And it sucks. 

It’s not like the party was family only - their parents invite friends from work and they’ve always invited extended family, like cousins and stuff. And other friends from school were invited too. It was just always Stiles’ and Scott’s _Thing,_ y’know? Ever since they started doing this stupid cookout they were always the ones that sat next to each other watching their dads shoot off fireworks and when they finally got them going - Stiles was the _ooh_ and Scott was the _ahh._ (Which was actually a Stiles and his Mom Thing, but the first Fourth without her, Scott picked up for her and it’s been a Stiles and Scott Thing ever since.) But it was their Thing! Capitalized! And now it’s not gonna be _theirs_ anymore.

Stiles slumps against the counter in the kitchen, burying his head into his arms, ignoring his phone next to him. He’s not pouting - well, maybe a little. He’s bummed and he feels he has every right to be, dammit. He stands up and shoves his phone into his back pocket when his dad walks in, uniform shirt unbuttoned over a white undershirt.

“What’s wrong?” he asks as he opens the fridge and starts digging around. Stiles jumps.

“What? What makes you think something’s wrong? Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s great. Just great. Gruh-eight. Great.”

His dad looks around the fridge door at him. 

“I’m great,” Stiles says again. His dad stares at him for a moment before going back to the fridge.

“Okay, Great. Good to meet you and good to hear you’re great.” Stiles rolls his eyes and huffs at the _terrible_ joke. His dad is smiling when he looks back around the fridge door again. “But you know it’s okay for you not to be great all the time.” Stiles huffs again and pulls his phone out of his back pocket as it goes off again. He stops it from buzzing and shoves it back into his pocket. “Is everything okay?”

“It’s great.” Stiles snaps back. His dad shuts the fridge and turns to look at his son, eyebrows raised. He crosses his arms over his chest and keeps looking at Stiles, waiting. “What?”

“You want to tell me what’s going on?” he asks. Stiles groans.

“ _Daaad_.” 

“It’s one question. I shouldn’t have to interrogate you to get answers out of you. What’s your deal?” 

Stiles makes a series of noises of protest before he sighs and rubs his face with his hands, digging his fingertips into his eyes. “It’s stupid,” he says. 

“If it’s upsetting you this badly it can’t be _that_ stupid.” 

“Scott wants to invite Allison to the cookout, okay? I thought I was okay with it, but it turns out I’m not.” He’s mumbling by the end of it, but when he does look up, his dad has the audacity to look amused. “What?”

“So, you’re jealous. Of Scott.” Stiles glares at him. 

“Don’t laugh at me!” 

“I’m not laughing! I promise.” 

“Yes, you are! You’re laughing!”

“Stiles, it’s okay! You miss your friend and you don’t want to share because this is some sort of tradition. It’s okay. I’m sure Scott can pull himself away from Allison long enough for you two to watch the fireworks together.”

Stiles snorts. “Fat chance.”

“Or, you could invite someone else to hang with too. Expand your horizons. You’ve got other friends than Scott McCall, don’t you?” Stiles grumbles. “ _OR_ , if you can’t find someone else, _I’ll_ watch the fireworks with you.”

“But dad, aren’t you the one who’s going to be setting them off?” His dad considers this as he reaches for an apple from a dish on the counter next to him.

“Oh, yeah. Sorry. Looks like you’ll have to settle for third wheel, nobody, somebody new, or you’re helping me out at the bottom of the hill.” He grins and takes a bite out of the apple and leaves the room.

“You’re so much help with my problem. I’m so glad I came to you,” Stiles deadpans. His dad waves as he leaves the room. Stiles groans and goes back to resting his head on his arms and pouting.

-

Stiles stews over it for a week. He types out a text to everyone he can think of but deletes it almost immediately after reading through it with their name attached to it. He’s doomed to go to the party alone. He knows he could probably just tell Scott how he feels about this whole thing, but he also saw Scott’s face when he brought up how excited he was about having Allison around for the cookout at all and Stiles may be selfish and really, really annoyed about all of this, but he’s not gonna take that stupid dopey grin off Scott’s face any time soon. Hopefully.

So instead he grumbles about it to himself and sighs a whole lot more at his phone. His dad’s stopped asking about the party, but he does buy everything for the party without asking Stiles’ input, so it’s still happening. 

Stiles hates it.

-

The day before the big cookout party, he finds himself in a grocery store buying twizzlers and Swedish Fish and he runs into Derek Hale. 

Derek Hale with a basket of Honey Nut Cheerios, a gallon of milk, rice krispie treats and a little bit more stuff, but Stiles only notices the sweets. 

“Hi,” he says with a grin. Derek looks a little annoyed, but then again, so do most people when you interrupt their grocery shopping.

“Hi,” Derek says back. 

“Doing a little grocery shopping?” Stiles asks. Derek stares at him. 

“No, I’m fighting velociraptors,” he deadpans sarcastically. Stiles gapes at him. Derek sighs. “Did you need something?”

“Nope,” he pops the end of the word. “I just wanted to say hi.” He looks away from Derek and then back really quickly. “Yeah. So. Hi.”

“Hi,” Derek says again before he starts to walk towards a register. 

Before he can stop himself, Stiles squeezes his eyes shut tight and blurts out, “So, every year my dad and I have this cookout at our house.” 

Derek spins around. “What?”

Stiles turns around stiffly. He grins again. “My dad and I have this cookout every year for the Fourth of July,” he repeats, slower. “Fireworks and food and family fun. It’s fun. Lots of fun. Sometimes it feels like forced family fun, but it’s still fun-”

“Not questioning the fun part of it,” Derek interrupts. 

“Aaaanyways, getting to it, Mr. Antsy Wolf. Like I said, it’s lots of fun and this year and I don’t know if you have plans for the Fourth or anything, but it’d be kind of cool if you came by. Like I said, there’s tons of food and fireworks and -”

“Fun, I got it,” Derek says. Stiles nods along with him. 

“So, you think you’ll be there?” he asks. Derek looks about as uncomfortable as he always does around Stiles, but now he looks more like he’s Actually Uncomfortable and not just grumpy.

“I don’t think your dad would be too keen on a former murder suspect hanging out in his backyard eating his food.” Stiles waves it aside.

“Dude, dude. Who cares, You’re exonerated. It’s cool. I mean, unless you have plans?”

Derek meets Stiles’ gaze, eyebrows arched. “I dunno, maybe.” 

“Maybe you’ll be there?” Stiles asks, hopefully. Derek shrugs. 

“Or maybe I won’t.” He turns back towards the registers and Stiles fights himself on wanting to do a victory dance. 

“I’m taking that as a yes!” he calls after Derek. “See you tomorrow!” He walks out of the store with his candy and almost skips to his Jeep in excitement that at least he won’t be alone at the cookout tomorrow. Y’know. Unless Derek doesn’t show. Which won’t happen, because he’s totally gonna show.

-

Stiles wakes up on the Fourth to the sounds of his dad mowing the backyard. He dresses, brushes his teeth, and rushes downstairs to help set everything up. When he brings his dad a bottle of water so he’ll take a break, his dad keeps looking at him.

“What?” he asks. His dad wipes his forehead on his sleeve.

“Nothing. You just look happier than you have in the past few days. Find someone to invite to watch fireworks with?” he asks. 

“I think so,” Stiles says. His dad takes a gulp of water. 

“Is this someone that I need to pay extra special attention to?” he asks. 

“What? No. We’re just friends. Dudes. Bros. Watching fireworks together.” 

“Okay, okay.” His dad holds up his hands in defeat. “Fine. It’s not the Martin girl, is it?” 

“Lydia’s not even here this summer. She’s spending it in France with her great aunt or something.” His dad nods.

“I just figured it was her since you never have that stupid grin on your face for anyone but her.” He grins and starts the lawn mower up again.

Stiles turns and walks back inside the house, denying to himself what his dad insinuated. He’s just excited. That’s it. In Scott’s face he found someone else to watch fireworks with. In his face. 

-

The final hour before the party arrives and then Stiles is just waiting around in the living room hoping people start arriving soon. A few friends of his dad’s show up early with their families and Stiles points them to the back door where his dad is firing up the grill and everything. Every time the back door slides open, the sound of loud music that, knowing his dad, is a lot of Bruce Springsteen fills the house. Stiles catches himself humming along to it at some point as he stares at the front door.

Finally, Scott, his mother, and Allison show, each of them carrying a dish. Allison has a bowl of potato salad and a big tub of cookies from her mom, Scott’s got a pan of baked beans and two bags of chips balanced on top of the lid, and Melissa has a tray of deviled eggs, a bowl of coleslaw, and a cooler bag on her shoulder. They all greet Stiles with a smile and an almost harmonized “hey!” before he leads them through the house to the picnic table outside that all of the food is going to go on. 

Everyone else trickles in slowly after that. And it’s not so bad being third wheel to Allison and Scott. They’re holding hands and being kind of gross, but Allison’s at least including him in conversation. It doesn’t stop Stiles from looking around every few minutes, though.

“What are you looking for?” Allison asks, finally. Scott’s been called away to help his mother with some sort of side-dish predicament and it’s just him and Allison sitting on a blanket in the corner of the yard. “Or is it who?”

“What?” he asks, peeling his eyes away from the gate. He looks back at her and she’s looking at him expectantly. 

“You invited somebody tonight and you’re gonna tell me who it is,” she says with a smile. Stiles shrugs.

“Why does everyone keep saying it like that? I just invited a friend to a party.”

“Because anyone who’s known you longer than five minutes knows that you’re only this hung up on Lydia and she’s not here. Who is it?” she asks. 

“We’re just friends oh my god.”

“Fine, who’d you invite that you’re “just friends” with?” she asks, using finger quotes. Stiles rolls his eyes before he spots someone coming into the yard via the gate and without thinking he actually jumps up onto his feet and does a victory jump. 

“YES! I KNEW IT!” and he rushes off towards the gate. Allison jumps up and follows behind him.

“I knew it, I knew you’d make it. Yes! Awesome. This is awesome.” Stiles greets Derek at the gate. 

“You invited _Derek Hale_?” Allison hisses in his ear. Stiles ignores her. 

“You brought something? What’d you bring?” he asks. Derek hands over a tupperware container and Stiles lifts the lid. “Oh my god, did you make rice krispie treats?” Allison looks over Stiles’ shoulder down at the container and then back up at Derek in disbelief.

“You _made_ these?” she asks. Derek nods.

“Yes?”

“We should go put them on the table next to the cookies you brought,” Stiles says to Allison. “Come on in, Derek. Don’t be shy.”

“Yeah, no big deal that his dad’s the sheriff and most of the adults here also work at the police station,” Allison says with a laugh. “This was such a well thought through plan.” She stares pointedly at Stiles.

“Don’t you start with me, woman.” 

-

Derek doesn’t linger in the corner of the party for very long, especially since Allison starts to try to get him talking when Stiles walks off to check on things with his dad. He’s walking towards the house to grab a coke when his dad grabs him by the arm over by the grill.

“Having a good time, son?” he asks in that one tone of voice that makes Stiles’ stomach churn a little. He nods.

“Yep.” 

“Is that Derek Hale talking to Allison?” he asks. Stiles nods.

“Yep,” he repeats. His father sighs.

“You know, Stiles. When I suggested you invite someone new to the party, I didn’t mean ex-murder suspects.” 

“He was exonerated,” Stiles says back. “Besides, you never said I couldn’t invite former murder suspects.” 

“It would be implied, Stiles.”

“You know me, dad. I’m really bad at picking up on things sometimes.” He grins. His dad doesn’t grin back. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“What? It’s a holiday party! He’s back in town for a while and I saw him at the store the other night and I didn’t want him just sitting at home alone missing his sister on a holiday that’s meant to be spent at a party like this.” His dad sighs.

“You’re right, fine. What’d he bring?” Stiles’ grin broadens.

“Homemade rice krispie treats,” he says. His dad brings his beer to his lips and takes a swig.

“At least he’s got _that_ going for him.” 

-

Stiles walks back outside with a coke and is this time pulled by the arm away from everyone by Scott. “Ow! Ow. Ow. My arm. My _human_ arm.” Scott lets go immediately and glares at Stiles.

“What is Derek doing here?” he asks. Stiles massages his arm.

“I invited him,” he says. Scott’s eyes widen.

“ _Why_?” he asks.

“Why is everyone sounding like a broken record today? I’m just going to record myself saying this so I don’t have to say it again and again. Because I felt like it and because I saw him the other day and figured he should have a place to go today, it being a holiday and all.”

“Stiles!” 

“What? You brought Allison with you! Why can’t I invite someone to hang out with too?” Stiles asks, crossing his arms over his chest, careful of his drink.

“Because she’s my _girlfriend_ , Stiles!” 

“So? I can’t invite a friend to hang out with so I’m not third wheel with you and your girlfriend?”

“You and Derek aren’t even friends!” 

“Uh, dude. We hang out with him a little too much for us to not call him a friend or anything.” 

“We weren’t hanging out with him! He nearly made you cut off his arm that one time!” 

“And we haven’t done weird things when we hang out? Like going to look for your inhaler in the woods? That’s _kind of_ weird, isn’t it?” 

“ _Stiles!_ ” 

“What? Scott, what? Okay, you’re busy with Allison and I have nobody else to hang out with. So, yeah, maybe it’s not like, the _best_ friendship ever or anything but the guy showed after I basically babbled at him to come to the stupid thing and now he’s here attempting to have a good time all because I invited him here. Can we put your weird werewolf crap behind you and just look at him from a person standpoint? He’s alone and could use some friends. We both know what that’s like, right?” 

Scott sighs. “Whatever. You still wanna watch fireworks together?” he asks. Stiles smiles.

“Yeah, man. Sure. Unless you want to watch them with Allison, and that’s okay too.” 

“Can’t I watch them with both of you?” Scott asks. Stiles nods, laughing.

“Sure.” 

-

Soon Stiles’ dad called everyone in to eat while the food was hot and nearly everything was consumed. Soon it was time for fireworks and sparklers. Stiles stole a few boxes of sparklers from his dad and ran back to their corner of the yard and handed them out to Allison, Scott, and Derek. He had to run back towards the house to steal a lighter to light them but the sparklers were pretty and tickled just a little bit on the back of his hands. He burnt himself twice, which he cursed at and shoved his thumb into his mouth like a little kid and absolutely refused to let either Derek or Scott take some of the sting away. 

Once dusk passed and it was darker outside, everyone stood and grabbed their blankets or chairs and started migrating towards the front yard. Stiles and Scott ran on ahead of everyone to make sure they got their usual spot while Stiles’ dad and a few of his friends walked down to the end of the cul-de-sac to set up where they usually shoot off the fireworks. Once their blanket was in place, Scott went back for Allison and picked her up over his shoulder and carried her the rest of the way to the blanket. Derek followed along behind them looking a little out of place.

“Sorry, this is our Spot,” Stiles says when Derek finally joins them on the blanket. Allison is all but in Scott’s lap and Stiles is patting the bit of blanket next to him. “There’s plenty of room, I promise.”

Derek sits down next to Stiles, their shoulders brushing. “Which one do you want?” Derek asks after everyone in their small crowd cheered when Stiles’ dad asked if they were ready. Stiles turns to look at Derek with a confused look on his face.

“What?” he asks. 

“Which do you want? Ooh or aah?” Derek asks again. “My sister and I used to take turns saying both of them so I don’t really care which.”

Stiles grins. “Uh. Whichever. When my mom and I used to watch them, uh -”

“He’ll be the ooh,” Scott interrupts. “He’s always the ooh.” He smiles at Stiles and goes back to speaking to Allison in a really quiet voice.

“Ahh it is,” Derek says with a small smile. And holy shit, his smile is like sunshine. That or it’s just that there’s fireworks going off over head, like literal fireworks. 

Scott smacks Stiles on the arm. “You’re supposed to say _ooooh!_ ” he teases. Stiles rubs his arm and ducks his head before he looks up at the fireworks overhead.

“Oooh,” he says, looking at Derek out of the corner of his eye.


End file.
